Mennyms: A Life Perfectly Ordinary

The five books that comprise Sylvia Waugh's Mennyms saga are understated fantasy stories that blend the conventional aspects of the genre with some unusual twists. The titular Mennyms--Sir Magnus, his wife Tulip, their son Joshua and his wife Vinetta, and their children Soobie, Pilbeam, Appleby, Poopie, Wimpey, and Googles--are a family of life-sized rag dolls that live in an upper-middle class English suburb. Miss Quigley, the only doll that is not a Mennym, is their 'neighbour' who lives in the hallway cupboard. The dolls have a contradictory existence--they live, but are not human; they are multi-generational, yet all (except Pilbeam) were 'born' at the same time; they can live forever, but cannot grow beyond the role they were born into. When they resist those roles the Mennyms, who experience love, bitterness, and jealousy as any human family does, are painfully reminded that they exist in a world that was not made for them.

The Mennyms came into being when their maker Aunt Kate died and her spirit imbued the dolls with life, intelligence, self-awareness, and emotions. Soobie, the only blue doll, is the introspective and spiritual centre of the novels. Until Vinetta brings Pilbeam to life from unassembled doll parts stored in the attic, Soobie is the only one who refuses to humour his family's 'pretends'--in which they pretend to be humans and partake in human activities. In The Mennyms, the dolls' comfortably monotonous existence is threatened by an outside force. When the impending crisis is discovered to be an elaborate hoax perpetrated by Appleby, she runs away rather than face her angry family members. Soobie reflects in a church while searching for his sister:

"'I do not know who made the part of me that thinks. I do not know who I really am or what I really am. I am never satisfied to pretend. I cannot pretend that you are listening to me...I do not know whether I believe in you, and, what is worse, you might not believe in me.'" (The Mennyms)

Reminiscent of children, who play house and play-act with their dolls, the Mennyms thrive on pretending and domesticity. They yearn to be ordinary, and they revel in the day-to-day activities that most humans might name trivial. Much of their time is taken up with 'pretends', in which family members enact real-life (human) situations. They 'eat' from empty plates and stir empty mixing bowls. Of the real world they learn from newspapers, television, and a great deal of it they are born knowing. This notion of 'born knowing' who, if not what or why, they are, is touched upon time and again in the Mennyms saga. For instance, Vinetta is an organised and diligent homemaker, who manages housework and bookkeeping for the family. Tulip is a skilled knitter and Sir Magnus is a historian and journalist--both of them work from home to help pay the bills. Miss Quigley, whose pretence of being the 'neighbour' is the most elaborate--she creeps outside to ring the doorbell for a 'visit' with Vinetta--finds she is an accomplished painter.

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